vegan recipe

Vegan Béchamel

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Lasagna topped with vegan Béchamel sauce.

As a French American, I love getting back to my roots for cooking. This French inspired vegan Béchamel sauce is perfect for all of your gratin dishes or to top your lasagna. Adding this to my vegan lasagna has made the ingredients needed simpler, as I don’t need to buy as much vegan ricotta and mozzarella to fill an entire dish.

You will need:

1/4 cup butter (I used Earth Balance)

1/4 cup flour

4 cups soy milk

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

Optional:

1/4 cup vegan mozzarella

The process:

Melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour slowly. Whisk together until smooth. Slowly add 4 cups soy milk. Add vegan mozzarella and whisk until melted. Bring heat to low for 4 minutes, stirring frequently.

Voila! Top your favorite dish and bake until perfection.

Béchamel after being cooked in the oven a top a vegan lasagna.

Vegan Beef Mushroom Stroganoff

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This creamy, full-flavor stroganoff is now on my regular dinner rotations. I absolutely love this savory, hearty meal.

Vegan Beef Mushroom Stroganoff

You will need:

1 generous tablespoon Vegemite

1 generous tablespoon veggie bouillon

3 cups water

1 table spoon vegan Worcestershire’s sauce (I use 365 from Whole Foods)

1 tablespoon Soy sauce

1 table spoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika

1 tablespoon Thyme

1/4cup Flour

1/2 tub vegan Sour Cream (I used Tofutti brand)

2 cups apprx. Sliced Mushrooms

1/2 Onion, sliced longways

Optional: frozen Beyond Meatballs

Splash of Wine or alcohol of choice

1 stem of fresh Dill

1 bag of Fusilli Pasta

The process:

If you are opting for the frozen meatballs, begin thawing them with a little olive oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Mix water with Vegemite and broth and bring to a boil in sauce pan.

Add Worcestershire’s sauce, Dijon Mustard and Dry Seasonings. Stir well.

Add flour, stirring until thoroughly mixed.

Mix in sour cream until smooth.

Let simmer for 15 minutes.

Sauté onions and mushrooms without oil, flipping mushrooms until browned. Add alcohol of choice and let evaporate over heat (I used whiskey on hand, but you can use white wine).

Add broth mixture to pan with meatballs. Cook another 25 minutes.

Cook pasta as directed, then drain and add to broth and meatball mixture. Let cool.

Stir in mushroom and onion mixture. Sprinkle fresh dill on top before serving.

Oh my goodness was this ever tasty. I hope you enjoy this rich, creamy comfort food. ✨

The Best Vegan Spanikopita

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Vegan Spanikopita I made for a morning staff meeting… big hit!

It’s 2022 so I felt it was time to update my Spanikopita recipe. I decided to give the fancy shapes a rest and just go back to basics… the results were incredibly tasty! There is no exact science to this. Feel free to modify quantities.

You will need:

500g of fresh spinach

150g Violife feta, crumbled

170g Follow Your Heart feta crumbles

(Your choice on type of Vegan feta cheese; I personally love the taste and texture of combining two particular kinds)

2 vegan eggs (I used Follow Your Heart)

115g vegan butter, melted

1 box frozen phyllo dough, thawed at room temperature

21g fresh chives, chopped

21g fresh dill, chopped

Optional: 1/2 lemon, squeezed

I used the largest tub of spinach they sell at Whole Foods and the full packets of fresh chives and dill. I provided ingredient measurements for guidance but truly I just eye balled everything. Don’t be afraid to just get in there!

The process:

I cooked down chopped fresh chives and dill with spinach in skillet.

Let the greens cool for a few minutes. Mix in your feta and vegan egg. Optional step: squeeze half a lemon over mixture.

Brush your melted butter on the pan.

Lay a Phyllo sheet along the bottom. Brush butter. Add another layer. Repeat layer, butter, layer for about 4 or 5 layers.

Add your filling mixture spreading evenly among dough.

Then top with a few more layers of dough and butter. I let these lay messily over the sides and tuck them under all of the layers when I’m done, giving it a nice crust.

Score all the way through, cutting pieces prior to cooking. Cutting after the dough is crusty can be difficult.

I was able to premake this the night before, covering tightly in my fridge overnight.

I popped it in oven this morning for 75 minutes at 375 degrees. 💚

Apparently I am to make this for every morning meeting henceforth. 😂 I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we do!

Vegan Breakfast Quiche

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This vegan dish has the perfect flaky crust and savory flavors you’d expect from a breakfast quiche.

Crust ingredients:

⁃ 1 vegan egg (2 tbs of Follow Your Heart powder with 1/2 cup ice water, whisked)

⁃ 2 1/2 tablespoons ice water

⁃ 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

⁃ 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

⁃ 10 tablespoons vegan butter (I used Miyoko’s Oat Milk Butter)

Filling:

– 1 Yellow Onion, chopped into cubes

– 3 VeganEggs (6 level Tbsp Follow Your Heart VeganEgg whisked with 1 1/2 cups ice cold water)

– 1 cup homemade cashew cheese (cashews blended with nutritional yeast, veggie bouillon, veggie broth, garlic, and hot water)

– 1 tbsp vegan butter

– pinch red pepper flakes

– 1 tsp pepper

– 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

– 1 cup of Hashbrowns (I used dehydrated shredded potatoes, salted to taste)

– 1 10 oz package fresh spinach

– Tbsp chopped fresh garlic

• Optional: vegan meat of your choice or vegan bac’n bits. (I personally used sautéed Chorizo bits from Nutcase Vegan Meats.) Top quiche with additional cheese if you like.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Whisk salt and flour

Add vegan egg

Add butter

Knead until dough consistency.

Roll out on floured cutting board until it is the size of your pie pan.

Work dough into pie pan, pinching the ends to form a crust around the edge.

Finish with fork impressions on edge.

Freeze for 25 minutes.

Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

If crust bubbles up, pierce with fork.

Sautée onions until soft. Add hashbrowns with vegan butter until desired browning.

Pack the pan with spinach only allowing to remove excess water for one to two minutes tops.

Whisk vegan egg with additional water. Add garlic, onion, pepper, red pepper flakes, hashbrowns and spinach. Mix well.

Slightly stir in homemade vegan cheese and chorizo. I left clumps together and it turned out amazing.

Pour into crust.

Turn down oven to 325 degrees.

Cook for 55 minutes.

Voila! Enjoy!

For tips on making your own homemade cashew cheese, check out the full video on how it’s made.

Vegan Spanikopita

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Compassion begins on your plate!! 💚🌱✨ Did you know most phyllo dough is vegan? I created a spinach feta mixture with 365 organic chopped spinach, garlic, onion, and Violife Foods Feta cheese and wrapped it up into little crispy triangles. 🤤🍃🌍💚 (Before I found Violife, I also used chèvre from Heidi Ho for that tangy, cheesy flavor you’d expect from a feta.) I am such a sucker for anything spinach and feta that I just had to veganize spanakopita that I missed so much! Give it a try😋!

You will need: (makes 12)

1 – 5 oz bag fresh organic spinach, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

2 – blocks of Violife Feta Cheese, crumbled

1- clove garlic, chopped

1/2 – white onion, chopped

6 – sheets of Fillo Dough (I prefer to buy the Fillo Factory Organic Dough 16 oz box)

1- Melted stick of vegan butter (I prefer Earth Balance)

Directions:

(Pro tip: Dough must sit at room temp and thaw for two hours for easily malleable dough for folding.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet and add chopped garlic and onion. Sauté until onions slightly brown then add chopped spinach, stirring until wilts. Strain mixture, draining any extra liquid and let cool.

Crumble blocks of feta in separate bowl. Once the spinach mixture is cooled, mix with crumbled feta.

Warm stick of butter in pan.

Roll out phyllo dough sheet on cookie sheet or cutting board. Cut down the middle. Brush melted butter on top. Place heaping spoonful of spinach feta mixture at bottom of one side of the halved sheet. Fold over the phyllo dough, flag-style rotating each fold to become a triangle. Brush top of filled triangle with butter again.

Repeat until spinach feta mixture is empty.

Place triangles evenly on cookie sheets and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the dough is flaky, and browning at edges.

Let triangles cool for 5 minutes, and enjoy!!

Vegan Chicken and Waffles

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Compassion begins on your plate! 💚🌱And, wow, what a whole lot of good food on my plate!

Use your leftover Beer-Battered Chick’n Fried Tofu from dinner for breakfast by topping it on a golden, vegan waffle and drizzling it with vegan ranch. Just reheat in your oven for about 10 mins at 350 degrees.

My dad used to make us heart shaped, Bisquick waffles every weekend. When I realized Bisquick waffle mix was vegan, I quickly ordered a heart shaped waffle maker just like we had growing up.

You can veganize almost any of your favorite pancake and waffle mixes by subbing almond milk when it calls for milk and the Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg when it asks for eggs. Just double check the ingredients to make sure it’s free of dairy.

I used :

2 cups Bisquick mix

1 1/2 cup unsweetened organic almond milk

2 tbsp Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg whisked with 1/2 cup ice cold water

2 tbsp organic canola oil

I cooked 3 golden waffles and topped with the reheated beer-battered tofu chicken. I buttered the waffles with Earth Balance and drizzled it all with Organicville Vegan Ranch.

This was the most epic vegan southern-style breakfast a girl could ask for. Holy comfort food.

Enjoy!

Beer-Battered Chick’n Fried Tofu

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Compassion begins on your plate! 💚🌱 I am sharing this delicious, indulgent chicken fried tofu recipe just in time for Super Bowl Sunday! This tofu has the texture of chicken and is full of flavor. Enjoy the flavors of a juicy chicken, beer battered and seasoned to perfection, while refraining from harming any living being. ✌🏼

Ingredients

Beer Batter:

2 cups flour

12 oz of lager beer (I used Stella Artois)

1 vegan egg (2 tbsp Follow Your Heart egg powder and 1/2 cup iced cold water, whisked)

2/3 tsp salt

1/2 tsp basil

1/3 tsp oregano

1 tsp celery salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp mustard seed

4 tsp paprika

3 tsp garlic salt

3 tsp white pepper

Seasoned Flour:

1 cup flour

1 cup traditional bread crumbs

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp white pepper

The “Chicken”:

Organic canola oil (enough for 4 inches of oil in large pan)

24oz traditional or medium tofu

1 cup vegan chicken broth

1 cup flour

Preparation

You will need to freeze your tofu twice to attain a chicken-like texture.

Place tofu package in freezer for 6 hrs (or overnight) and thaw for 4 hrs. Repeat.

Once your tofu is thawed, you will need to drain it of moisture using either a tofu press or two cutting boards. I personally do not own a press, so I press my tofu on a cutting board with paper towels and a big glass pan.

Once the tofu is drained, it should be easily broken apart to reveal chicken-like tofu pieces. Did your tofu fall into bits? No worries! We will prepare this like popcorn chicken.

Place drained tofu pieces into bowl.

Pour chicken-style vegan broth as a tofu marinade. Let soak for 5 mins.

Drain tofu of excess broth.

Dip each piece in plain flour and set aside.

Mix seasoned flour ingredients and set aside.

Mix beer batter ingredients and set aside.

Fill 4 inches of oil into the bottom of a wok or large pan.

Heat frying oil to 350 degrees.

Now, this next part gets a little messy. Commit to the fact they will turn out perfect and charge on through any flour messes along the way.

You are going to take your pieces of marinaded tofu and dip them in the beer batter, coating it completely.

Roll the outside of the tofu in the seasoned flour mixture making sure the outside is coated with breadcrumbs.

Once you’ve done all the bigger pieces of tofu, make sure to dip all the smaller ones as well. They will turn out like popcorn chicken.

Drop tofu into the oil in small batches, turning each side until darkened like fried chicken.

Once cooked evenly, set aside on paper towel or a rack, draining any excess oil from the finished pieces.

Let cool for at least 5 mins before eating.

Serve like a finger food with your favorite dipping sauces, like Organicville Vegan Ranch, or serve it atop some vegan waffles for a southern feel.

Enjoy!

Overnight Gingerbread Chia Pudding

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Chia is an ancient Mayan word for strength. Introducing it into my diet has helped my hunger and stamina exponentially. It’s a good source of protein, fiber, calcium and omega-3. Eating chia puddings have become a staple for me on days I’m losing weight and feeling motivated to work out. My favorite cookie is definitely my mom’s gingerbread so combining her spices with chia pudding seemed like a perfect fit to satisfy my sweet tooth in a healthy way. 

You’ll need:

4 tablespoons black chia seeds

1 cup coconut milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon* of cinnamon 

A dash* of ginger

A dash* of clove 

*Can be increased with preference.

Combine ingredients in Tupperware bowl and leave in fridge overnight. If you would like to make more for the week, just keep the ratio of 4 tablespoons per cup of coconut milk in mind.  

In the morning, enjoy a healthful, yummy gingerbread chia pudding !